During the first semester of my course work for graduate school, I had an assignment to find an academic conference that interested me, write a proposal for the conference and if we wanted to, we could submit to the conference for practice.
We were told that it was unlikely as new graduate students that we would get accepted but it was good practice if we wanted to pursue an academic career. I am not entirely sure if I want to pursue an academic career and I hate public speaking so I did not give my conference choice much thought beyond what I imagined I could write a paper about easily. I am, at heart, lazy and chose my topic based on books I had at my house.
Long story short, I forgot all about my proposal until I was contacted by the conference organizers earlier this year."Congratulations!" they said. "You're coming to Iceland!" I immediately thought, "Hurray!" and then, "Oh no, how is this going to work?" In my great wisdom, I chose a conference in one of the most expensive countries in the world.
I am not kidding. It is ridiculous.
Iceland is on many people's bucket lists, I am told. It was never on my bucket list largely because I do not have a bucket list.
I have to-do lists instead of bucket lists: laundry, lunches, water plants, procrastinate thesis writing, etc. There are a few things that I have learned so far about travelling to Iceland.
For one, there are no king-sized beds in our price range. We are lucky to have found a double. The international airport is not in Reykjavik but the domestic airport is so you will have to arrange a bus and a different flight to get elsewhere in Iceland. There are world-famous hotdogs with a special sauce that are apparently amazing. There are cute little Icelandic ponies that are susceptible to sunburn. There are puffins! Icelanders, as a rule, are not huge fans of Bjrk. The food is supposed to be amazing but you may have to get a second mortgage to afford to eat (except for hot dogs). And finally, Iceland is known for its beautiful knitting and extraordinarily warm sweaters but I may have to win the lottery to be able to afford to buy one.
I might be able to buy one beautiful mitten.
I feel very lucky to be able to attend my conference and see my husband play his first international gig. Hard Rock Café Reykjavik here we come! This will be my first time overseas and only my third time out of Canada. I have been to the United States exactly twice: once to Seattle (i.e. slightly warmer Vancouver) and once to Las Vegas (i.e. what happens in Vegas....).
An international excursion for one week is proving to be more expensive than our holiday budget for the last three years but it will be the trip of a lifetime.
I am looking forward to making my husband try Kæstur hkarl (fermented shark) - I've heard it's quite tasty. I will strategically leave Mr. PG images around Iceland and speak fondly of home. Then when I return, like all international travelers, I promise that I will relate all stories to something funny that happened in Iceland.
I will be sure to start all sentences with, "When I was in Iceland..." or "In Iceland, we...."
It won't be irritating at all.
